Oh thank goodness I found this site and found this thread! I've recently picked knitting up again - it's mothers day here in the UK on March 26th and I wanted to knit a scarf for my mother. I bought a kit with a gorgeous eyelash yarn - it's a knit one row, knit 2 stitches purl the rest then knit the last two.

Well I started the project and it was coming out to look like a wonderful fur scarf. Then the horror struck me - I had suddenly increased stitches and knitting the row after purling was a nightmare!

I've found this site now, started the drop stitch scarf, and I'll be revisiting the project scarf for my mother today when I get home. I realise now I was doing the purl stitches wrong and adding an extra loop - hence the additional stitches!

Can't wait to get home and carry on. This site is wonderful I'm so glad I found it!

OK, this might be different than the other extra stitch comment, but I am so new I don't know! (Hi everyone, thanks for the site!) After casting on, I knit my first row. When I get to that last loop on my "casting-on" needle (uh, I also don't know terms too well yet) to knit it, it has become a huge loop and if I just knit on, it makes a very lose stitch that I can't pull tight on my knit row. Does this happen to anyone? Maybe I will try to include an image later (when I get out of work and back to knitting!)

I posted about the big loop at the end of my row. I figured it out! for anyone else who may be brand new and also having this problem: I was pulling my stitches way too tight. So now what I do is knit 2-3, and then kind of pull on my knitting that I just did (as suggested above to straighten out the yarn) and it works! SO thanks for the suggestion, and now I finally got past a row! Yay, project!

i found out recently that i was wrapping my yarn around the needle the wrong way when i purled. i knew i was doing it different but my work didn't look any different when i was done so i decided it didn't matter. one day i saw someone say that it was creating a twisted stitch and that was why it was so hard to get the needle in. i have consciously switched the way i purl and it is way easier to get that needle in! it takes me longer because i am relearning how to purl but knitting after a purl row is much more pleasant!

-I did the exact same thing when I was young and someone pointed it out to me, finally. You can see it in your work if you know what to look for. When looking at the stockinette stitch (right side of sweater) the little loops that are going up on top of each other should not make a cross over at the bottom where they sit on top of the stitch below them. They are more like an upside down letter 'u' with a tight neck.

I've only been knitting for a couple weeks now and I noticed that I had this problem with accidentally adding on extra stitches. This post has been so helpful! I was wondering if there was any way to correct my extra stiches without unraveling all of my rows because I have no idea where it might have happened. Is there anyway I could combine a couple stiches to even it out or am I stuck with my extra stiches? Please help!

well if it isn't a lot, you can always knit two stitches together. you can see the video clip of how to do that here ...it is the first video at the top left. Do it as gradually as you can...meaning if you have, for example, four extra stitches, don't do all the K2tog stitches at the same time or they will be obvious....how many extra stitches do you have?

also, what's a good remedy for sore fingers? my fingers are killing me.

last thing...i find it very hard to knit after a row with purling. is there an easier way to get the kneedles in? i'm using size 8's.

thanks!
kelly

---You may be knitting too tight and causing your fingers too much pulling stress. When you purl, be sure that you are bringing the yarn thru the 2 needles from the top toward the bottom, not up from the bottom toward the top. If you are bringing it from the bottom up, it will cause the stitch to be twisted on the needle and harder to knit the next row. Or because your fingers are so sore, it could just be they are way too tight. Check both for tightness and wrong yarn direction when purling.